Gardens and gardeners

So what’s so special about the gardens of Ornée Farm? (‘Ornée’ means ornate in French so this is a pun on the name of the department of Orne.) Well beyond being a garden, it’s more a technique of landscaping originating from the great tradition of the ornamental gardens of our English neighbours. Well yes, yet another idea that has crossed the Channel, and which has been applied here at Carrouges in Perche, albeit on a small scale, as Jean Pierre Morby the creator of the garden makes plain. He has built on this wonderful concept to combine the natural local landscape of hedges, with a selection of often rare or acclimatised plants, and animals…
Add to this the owner’s stamp: keeping all the local character of this corner of Normandy, its traditions based around apples and cucurbits…
This globetrotter who has settled in Normandy will delight you with his knowledge of plants and with the story of what made him come and create his garden at Carrouges.
He is keen on a totally natural style of gardening.
http://www.normandie-tourisme.fr/lieux-de-visite/parcs-jardins-de-normandie-1057-1.html
www.lafermeorneedecarrouges.fr/‎
www.ornetourisme.com/.../carrouges_la-ferme-ornee-de-carrouges_0__ PCUNOR061FS000BP.htm

The gardens of The Abbey of Saint-Georges de Boscherville are monastic in style, based upon those of a 12th century Benedictine abbey. Several gardens recreated from plans found in the archives make up this unusual place. Serge Conreur, the head gardener takes us on a journey through the epochs which this garden has known, from its original medieval inspiration, through the renaissance, to a formal French-style garden… Above all utilitarian, most of these gardens had a wide range of purposes; utility is apparent in the vegetable garden, the orchard, the herb and aromatic gardens, a garden for cut flowers and areas for meditation. We invite you to follow in the footsteps of the monks with Serge and with Danièle Pytel, an expert guide who has produced the English version of this documentary.
This unique abbey belongs to the General Council of Seine Maritime and is put to the service of the community as a whole. Serge is not only the gardener but also in charge of a project for social rehabilitation specific to the abbey. Add to this an uninterrupted view of the Seine valley and you will understand why you have to visit this amazing place.
http://www.abbaye-saint-georges.com
http://www.normandie-tourisme.fr/lieux-de-visite/parcs-jardins-de-normandie-1057-1.html
http://www.seine-maritime-toourisme.com

Normandy has a treasure trove of gardens.. and what magificent gardens. Bois des Moutiers is a fine example. Run by Antoine Bouchayer-Mallet, under the vigilant eye of his mother, who recently carried out a complete botanical inventory of the garden, this great dynasty of gardeners continues its fine work.
In just a few decades Varengeville has become a high point for gardens. Don’t however plan on visiting all of them in a single day. Given their extent that would be too much. Bois des Moutiers is in fact a collection of gardens with a subtle blend of the work of an architect (Edwin Lutyens) and of a landscape designer Gertrud Jekyll. Nothing is left to chance at this house where you find Art Nouveau side by side with golden section symmetry, majestic park alongside rose garden … in any case garden lovers will be enchanted. Don’t worry about offending Antione by asking when the garden is best. He will reply that it is always magnificent and it’s true…. So the film is a bit like the garden, timeless, since we were lucky enough to film it in autumn, and in spring just as it emerged from winter. This virtual stroll will take you through maples in colours of flame, magnolias bursting into leaf and bloom and multi-coloured rhododendrons. Our eyes haven’t yet entirely recovered from the spectacle.
http://www.boisdesmoutiers.com
www.parcsetjardins.fr/.../les_jardins_du_bois_des_moutiers-955.html
http://www.jardin-jardinier.com
http://www.normandie-tourisme.fr/lieux-de-visite/parcs-jardins-de-normandie-1057-1.html
www.seine-maritime-tourisme.com

Vendeuvre : a "jardin-jardinier" coproduction, Normandy Regional Tourist Board, Calvados Departmental Tourist Board
Vendeuvre counts amongst the gorgeous gardens of Calvados, remembering that as well as the park and gardens, there’s also an extraordinary museum of miniatures …. But that’s another story.
Going round the park and gardens of this stately home with Guy de Vendeuvre is a real delight, a rejuvenation, a joy and an encounter with an infectious wackiness.
He loves his estate, he takes great care of it, leaving nothing to chance, especially the welfare of the thousands of annual visitors. In fact he loves his garden as much as the people who visit it.
He knows each and every place where he can satisfy his love for practical jokes (a family tradition) in the gardens of surprises… and like the waterer who likes to get watered, he does the demonstrations himself his laughter mingling with the shouts of the children… he lives for his garden…
With a straw hat attached to his head, and a jacket of an appropriate green, it’s another great moment in these wonderful gardens with their magnificent viewpoints, which are a delight for photographers. There is something for everybody whether you are romantic, playful, or maybe even a botanist – there’s the French style garden with its rosebush maze, the water features and the landscaped garden with its “fabrications”…
However watch out for Cléance and too bad if you make Guy de Vendeuvre burst out laughing….
“it’s great growing old when you are a gardener” he tells us in conclusion…
In fact, Alexandre is next in line… first, second, third… tenth generation without a break if I’ve counted correctly.
Thank you, Count, for the charm of this beautiful ensemble of gardens.
http://www.jardin-jardinier.com
http://www.normandie-tourisme.fr/lieux-de-visite/parcs-jardins-de-normandie-1057-1.html
http://www.vendeuvre.com
chateau@vendeuvre.com
french version : https://youtu.be/64SwbA9EugA

It’s with its designer, or rather its redesigner, Didier Wirth that we have been lucky enough to film the Gardens of the Château of Brécy. A timeless place, a magical place, a place for contemplation. Yet speaking as a filmmaker, when you come into this garden, you are lost, you don’t know where to start … Morning light, evening light…. There’s no escape. You need them both… and then there’s this sky, forever changing, not a moment goes by without something to catch your eye… suddenly you are in 7th heaven… oh sorry I mean the 17th century! The topiary plays hide and seek with breathtaking vistas… has nothing been left to chance in this gorgeous garden?
This is somewhere not to be missed by garden lovers, and a perfect example of a French style garden, from the designs of the box borders, straight from good King Henri IV’s gardener…

The Park of the Château de Nacqueville is an extraordinary garden.
Invisible from the sea, this secret paradise-garden created in 1830 is a good example of a romantically inspired park, just like some English parks. In short, you have a sea-facing valley, entirely given over to heathland plants, mainly rhododendrons. Florence d’Harcourt wasn’t destined to take over the estate, living in Australia were she spent her former life with her family… Feeling the call of her homeland, and the enchantment of childhood memories, she returned to Nacqueville to continue the work of her ancestors to bring her personal touch to the place just as each of her predecessors had done before her. Wander round and explore this place which is more than just a garden. It’s a great walk which holds a thousand and one surprises for you. Chill by the river which runs right through the estate, listen to the birdsong or the horns of the ships leaving Cherbourg for the New World as they make a final brief appearance in the seaward view from the chateau.
Although it’s utterly magical at any time, favour the light at the end of the day when the sun’s rays show the whole valley to its best effect.
Botanists - you will find your pleasure with the azaleas, rhododendrons, hydrangeas and camellias, century-old trees and gunneras which, along with the (Tatihou or Vauville) echiums will soon become plants emblematic of the Cherbourg Peninsula…
http://www.jardin-jardinier.com
http://www.normandie-tourisme.fr/lieux-de-visite/parcs-jardins-de-normandie-1057-1.html

You can’t visit Normandy and pass by this veritable masterpiece, the garden of Vastérival, and there’s nobody better placed to show us round than its head gardener Didier Willery. So let’s enter the magic kingdom of Princess Sturdza whose influence can still be felt in the garden. For once I am not going to describe this place to you but let you explore it with Didier, who will be both your guide and also, indeed mainly, the gardener who has never taken his eye off the garden in over 20 years.
And the cherry on the cake is that we filmed in June and came back in October in almost divine light… shade, penumbra, light and dark – how can I describe the intense atmosphere here? How could you imagine a rhododendron with sumptuous colours or Smyrnium minuscules with its tender green foliage and its yellow flowers, or the dappled light produced by Dominique’s famous signature “transparent pruning”… Fifty years of research along with fifty years of experimentation and selection, and the adventure continues for our great pleasure…
Take note that you need to book to visit Vastérival but you will emerge enraptured.
www.vasterival.fr
http://www.jardin-jardinier.com
http://www.normandie-tourisme.fr/lieux-de-visite/parcs-jardins-de-normandie-1057-1.html
www.seine-maritime-tourisme.com
www.jardin-jardinier.com
version française: https://youtu.be/VojjggwwPA0

a new collection of gardens in Normandy presented by their gardeners :
Château de Brécy by Didier Wirth
Château de Vendeuvres by Guy de Vendeuvres
Château de Nacqueville by Florence d'Harcourt
Vastérival by Didier Willery
Bois des Moutiers by Antoine Bouchayer-Mallet
Giverny (Claude Monet) by James Priest
and special thank to Stéphane Marie (TV show "Silence ça pousse")

In this new walk in Claude Monet's garden, it is James Priest, the successor of Gilbert Vahé, that leads the way for us. Each new visit in this timeless garden enchants us. These shots, taken between showers, make it even more magical; its colors more vivid and its contrasts more striking.
James tells us, with an unreserved admiration for the painter, the difficulty and the challenge that brings this garden; a garden turned into a work of art, that more than 600,000 visitors per year wander into.
When you will pass through the Eure, you will succumb to the charm of this interpretation based on the work of Monet, and the timeless lilies that will forever symbolize the Impressionist movement.
http://www.normandie-tourisme.fr/lieux-de-visite/parcs-jardins-de-normandie-1057-1.html
http://www.fondation-monet.fr
http://www.eure-tourisme.fr/
http://www.jardin-jardinier.com

The hanging gardens of Le Havre in Seine Maritime are located in the old fortress, which dominates the town and its port with a magnificent panoramic view over the Channel. Albéric Levain, the town’s head gardener takes us into the heart of this citadel, which is nowadays totally given over to botany. Samuel Craquelin, the landscape designer in charge of the project, managed to preserve the historic character of the square while arranging greenhouses containing many botanical collections (with over 4000 plants) in the heart of the main courtyard. Plantings replicating tropical, desert and semi-desert landscapes make this place special, but its originality doesn’t only lie in its greenhouses. The particularly sophisticated landscape design takes you on a world tour on a circular walk round the battlements with its four mini-fortresses at each corner of the construction.
You can join Albéric here in a southern hemisphere garden, then in a garden inspired by Asia, another by North America… or finally in a so-called explorers’ garden. The cherry on the cake is here in this last little fortress where the landscape designer and gardeners had the idea of exhibiting “modern” plants, i.e. those which the new explorers sought out in all the countries of the world from Africa to Asia, not forgetting the high plateaux of the Andes. Anchors away for an exploration of the hanging gardens!
http://www.lehavre.fr
n°vert : 0800351011
http://www.normandie-tourisme.fr/lieux-de-visite/parcs-jardins-de-normandie-1057-1.html
http://www.seine-maritime-tourisme.com

Gardens and what gardens ! These amazing chartreuses are the main curiosity of this extraordinary and timeless place… Marguerite de Mézerac will show you round these stunning gardens which are as unchanged as if it was still the 18th century here at Canon in Calvados. Starting with a formal French garden, surrounded by an English garden you come to the highlight, the Chartreuses…. If you want to find out all there is to know, then off we go. It’s over to you, Marguerite!
www.chateaudecanon.com/
version française :
https://youtu.be/FidAnHiczYs?list=PLE72B7C57796881B4
http://www.parcsetjardins.fr/basse_normandie/calvados/parc_et_jardin_du_chateau_de_canon-69.html
http://www.calvados-tourisme.com/diffusio/fr/decouvrir/parcs-et-jardins/mezidon-canon/parc-et-jardin-du-chateau-de-mezidon-canon-entre-caen-et-lisieu_TFOPCUNOR014FS0009P.php
http://www.normandie-tourisme.fr/lieux-de-visite/parcs-jardins-de-normandie-1057-1.html

It’s in the very special village of Honfleur where a butterfly house called Naturospace has been set up. Fruit of the imagination of one Benoît (Benoît Damico), it’s another Benoît who will show you the diversity of the botany and fauna of this place.
Of course the main attraction is the butterflies. And not just any butterflies but ones chosen for their colour, their way of flying, their size and their ability to reproduce on site or not…. But Naturospace is also a garden. Otherwise there would be no point in making a film in the ‘Jardin Jardinier’ (Garden Gardener) series.
There are over four hundred botanical species which will amaze you. Benoît Damico is a great specialist of the Amazon where he worked for many years. He forged links with collectors and specialist nurserymen, and it’s because of this that you will find some of the rarest orchids and decorative shrubs, all for education purposes (cocoa, vanilla etc….)
If you should come and visit, don’t leave your children or grandchildren behind! They’re sure to have a memorable time.
http://www.naturospace.com
http://www.calvados-tourisme.com/fr/d...
http://www.normandie-tourisme.fr/lieu...

Here we are at Criel-sur-Mer, at the park and orchard of ‘Les Prés”… and, as its name suggests there are…. apple trees and a cider distillery. And that would be all if the Tailleux family hadn’t also had the idea of creating a garden on the 8 hectares (20 acres) which make up the estate… a swathe of green surrounding a 1900 villa, with the river Yères on the horizon.
Today it’s Adrien, the eldest son who has taken up the baton, and who is over time transforming these salt marshes into a landscaped and decorative nature sanctuary.
So this garden is a lovely surprise, from all points of view. The garden around the house will please landscape designers and botanists, the creation of the side channels will delight lovers of exotic plants (many of which were supplied by Charles Boulanger, who is almost a neighbour) and the rest of you will be won over by the use of the natural areas which are kept in a good state of conservation.
At the end of your visit, there’s nothing to stop you tasting the house speciality: cider… after all this is also an orchard.
http://www.normandie-tourisme.fr/a-voir-a-faire/lieux-de-visite/parcs-et-jardins-de-normandie-300-1.html

Here's a garden in Normandy which is completely different. Above all it's a garden museum belonging to the designer Christian Dior. Although it doesn't have anything botanically unusual, its position is quite extraordinary, and its history is linked to that of the Diors, a large bourgeois family from Granville.
http://www.parks-and-gardens.normandy-tourism.org

Maxime is slowly but surely taking Acquigny's park and gardens in hand. He spent his entire childhood and youth on this property, knows the land by heart, and the passion for trees and plants is truly in his blood. This is a beautiful example of a garden which is destined to a bright future. Here there is energy and ideas aplenty, and especially a magnificent potential which only asks to be developed and to amaze.
https://youtu.be/1FBlRSquWAM http://www.normandie-tourisme.fr/pcu/... http://chateau-acquigny.fr

Vauville's Botanical Garden is well known by Jardin Jardinier. We were lucky enough to interview the late Guillaume Pellerin, who left his wife and two sons a beautiful landscaped legacy. His heirs have measured up to the challenge and have taken in hand the destiny of this magical place, constantly teeming with ideas and new projects. Eric shares with us the vision he has of the garden, whose future is well and truly assured. A beautiful testimony through which we can feel the admiration he has for his father and grandfather.
http://ww.www.jardin-vauville.fr/

Miromesnil is a castle and a remarkable kitchen garden. Taken over in 1938 by Nathalie Romatet's grandparents, this garden was totally rethought and redesigned in the 1950s and has become one of Normandy's unmissable gardens. Beautifully landscaped and situated in enchanting surroundings, it's a place where you can discover Norman vegetables, forgotten varieties and flowers from our grandmother's gardens, which will bring back many childhood memories.

La Ferme des Roches is located in Martinvast, on the Contentin Penisula. This garden is isolated and luxurious. Built plant by plant with a true love for nature and landscape, it's the paradise of owner Caroline St Clair. Everything is brilliantly orchestrated, nothing is left to chance and the natural look of the garden is the result of daily hard work.
Nevertheless she does not impose, she protects the weak ones of forts, Robine des Bois in a way. This passion of the garden, she shares it with that of the horses, but the fight of territories is wild, and in the end which of the horses or the garden will win on the living space of Caroline ... To be continued.

Let’s get it straight, if you are looking for a 2-minute video, this is not for you. You cannot talk with Monique and Thierry Dronet for only two minutes of video! It would be insulting and, more importantly, we exchanged so many beautiful ideas on Berchigranges and gardens in general that I can’t help but simply relay them to you. I won’t say anymore, it was a magical time, with fantastic light, and a place…
Anyway, a moment of pure bliss with these two garden-lovers!
http://www.berchigranges.com

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sw7jYPSnsvY

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Gardens & Gardeners description.

Normandy : park and gardens of Château de Vendeuvre (Calvados)

Vendeuvre : a "jardin-jardinier" coproduction, Normandy Regional Tourist Board, Calvados Departmental Tourist Board
Vendeuvre counts amongst the gorgeous gardens of Calvados, remembering that as well as the park and gardens, there’s also an extraordinary museum of miniatures …. But that’s another story.
Going round the park and gardens of this stately home with Guy de Vendeuvre is a real delight, a rejuvenation, a joy and an encounter with an infectious wackiness.
He loves his estate, he takes great care of it, leaving nothing to chance, especially the welfare of the thousands of annual visitors. In fact he loves his garden as much as the people who visit it.
He knows each and every place where he can satisfy his love for practical jokes (a family tradition) in the gardens of surprises… and like the waterer who likes to get watered, he does the demonstrations himself his laughter mingling with the shouts of the children… he lives for his garden…
With a straw hat attached to his head, and a jacket of an appropriate green, it’s another great moment in these wonderful gardens with their magnificent viewpoints, which are a delight for photographers. There is something for everybody whether you are romantic, playful, or maybe even a botanist – there’s the French style garden with its rosebush maze, the water features and the landscaped garden with its “fabrications”…
However watch out for Cléance and too bad if you make Guy de Vendeuvre burst out laughing….
“it’s great growing old when you are a gardener” he tells us in conclusion…
In fact, Alexandre is next in line… first, second, third… tenth generation without a break if I’ve counted correctly.
Thank you, Count, for the charm of this beautiful ensemble of gardens.
http://www.jardin-jardinier.com
http://www.normandie-tourisme.fr/lieux-de-visite/parcs-jardins-de-normandie-1057-1.html
http://www.vendeuvre.com
chateau@vendeuvre.com
french version : https://youtu.be/64SwbA9EugA